thanks to this thread i finally purchase a flask and DME for making a starter for my next batch. Im shure it will make it better.
Two batches ago i made a Pale Ale and use US5 and went slowly, im going the same recipe but with starter
cheers
Make sure you understand that you make a starter with liquid yeast only, not with dry yeast. When the dry yeast is processed the manufacturers strengthen the cell walls before undergoing the drying process. This is preserved in tact after the drying process. Because a single pack of dry yeast has many more viable cells than a pack or vial of liquid yeast you most likely would pitch the dry yeast into a starter size that was much too small, causing the yeast to deplete the nutrients in their cell walls leaving you with a yeast pitch that is actually weaker than had you simply pitched the yeast dry or rehydrated iwth warm water.
Liquid yeast has the opposite problem. The glycogen/sterols in the cell walls are in tact when they yeast is packaged but they immediately start using those reserves while they sit and become dormant. So making an appropriate size starter (preferably with aeration and nutrients) will allow the yeast in the starter to build those reserves back up.
Check the pitching calc at
www.mrmalty.com to get an idea how many packs of dry yeast you need for every batch, or how big a starter you need for liquid yeast.